Product Description

Magical planting suggestions from today's most compelling garden writer.

Herbaceous perennials are the star performers in the garden. But to create maximum impact they need the right partners, and knowing which plant to put with which is an art that often eludes even the most knowledgeable of gardeners. Here, Anna Pavord helps to solve this tantalizing problem by suggesting 60 plants that she feels deserve a place in every garden -- her star plants -- and to accompany them, two ideal partners. She shows, season by season, how to create irresistible planting associations that juxtapose texture, shape, color, and scent. In these small-scale recipes she uses perennials, annuals, and bulbs that either perform simultaneously or dovetail to provide interest for most of the year. To extend the options, she also gives scores of alternatives for each combination.

Stunning photographs and Anna's unique ability to awaken us to the delights and idiosyncrasies of these, her favorite plants, work together to provide a marvelous source of planting ideas. These can be visited time and time again, whether we want merely to fill one small gap, transform an awkward corner, or start a whole new border from scratch.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #823404 in Books
• Published on: 2001-08-23
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

From Amazon.com
Anna Pavord has no patience for dwarf plants ("a perverse trend"), pastels ("Stop overdosing on pastels. We've had more than enough of them"), or winter gardens ("Who needs them? The pleasures of the winter garden are only for masochists"), not to mention all-white beds ("somnambulist gardening"). She has a sharp eye and a predilection for cheeky Briticisms, and she's not afraid to use either. Plant Partners is organized into seasons--the real growing seasons: signs of spring, spring turns to summer, high summer, and into autumn. Within these seasons Pavord presents 60 "star" plants that should be highlighted in the perennial bed. For each of her favorite plants she provides a supporting cast of two varieties--annuals, bulbs, or perennials--that partner particularly well with the stars, and under the same soil and light conditions. The groupings might be designed so that all of the flowers will be in bloom at once (pasqueflower with grape hyacinth and deep-purple primroses, for example), or so that when one flower's blooms are just starting to fade another's are waiting in the wings (lily-of-the-valley with a hellebore and barrenwort). A listing of "alternative" partners extends the range of choices to include more unusual plants and ones that might be more challenging to grow. Foliage is given as much consideration as blooms:

"Darling! Salmon! How brave!" exclaim the white-garden brigade as they sharpen their pruning knives for a horticultural mercy killing. You might as well fall on your garden fork there and then as try to explain that the point of the rodgersia they are looking at is not the buff-pink flower but the whirls of bronze underneath it.

But her exhortation to use foliage--as well as grasses and nonflowering perennials as "star" plants--to best advantage cannot be ignored in Plant Partners. Pavord's advice throughout is practical and opinionated. --Liana Fredley

From Library Journal
Combining plants in the garden to achieve a pleasing effect of color and symmetry is an art form many gardeners try to emulate. For her take on the practice, Pavord (The Tulip) presents 60 outstanding perennials (as well as some bulbs and annuals) and two plants that will complement them in the garden. The perennials are arranged by the three growing seasons, and each is illustrated with a gorgeous close-up photograph. Pavord also provides general growing advice in addition to plants' growing dimensions, qualities, and varieties. A chapter at the end of the book lists alternatives for different site and soil conditions. Oddly, a shot of the plants with their "partners" is missing, though a few combination photos are provided in the introductory essay to each section. Though not as successful as Jeff Cox's excellent Plant Marriages (LJ 3/1/93), this will be a good addition to gardening collections in public libraries. Phillip Oliver, Univ. of North Alabama, Florence
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
The Tulip, the result of Anna Pavord's lifelong passion for this particular bulb, won her worldwide acclaim and almost started a second bout of tulip mania. Indeed her enthusiasm for plants, combined with her ability to evoke in words their many quirks and charms, make her one of the most entertaining yet informative of garden writers. Anna has written many highly successful books, including The Border Book and New Kitchen Garden, both published by Dorling Kindersley. In the UK, she writes regularly for the magazine Gardens Illustrated, where she is also associate editor, and contributes a weekly column to The Independent newspaper. She is a frequent radio broadcaster and has also presented her own TV series in the UK about gardening. Anna is an avid traveler, gleaning information about plants in many corners of the world. Back home in Dorset, England, she uses her large garden--around an old rectory--as a source of inspiration and a place where she can constantly experiment with new associations of flowers and foliage.

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Customer Reviews

Happy Gardener
I can't believe no one has yet to review this book. I find myself going through the book to look up a particular plant combination and then spending at least an hour paging through the book all over again. Anna Pavord's humo(u)rful writing makes for an easy read.

This book is a definite MUST HAVE for anyone, beginner, amateur or professional (even if they wouldn't admit to having it on their shelf) who is interested in combining plants. I started using it about a year ago, and the results are fantastic - these combinations work. I especially like the attention to normally overlooked plants such as euphorbias,violets, and columbines and I am dying to try some of the more exotic combinations.

The featured plant trios each contain a "star" plant and two companions. Each of the stars are also listed in the back with alternative partners. The book is organized with gradations from spring-summer-fall and includes bulbs as well as perennials and a few annuals. Missing are shrubs, roses, and climbers, but we can't have everything in one book, can we?

The main critique I have (if possible I would have deducted 1/2 a star) is that the cultural information is decidedly limited - beginners will need to supplement this book with a good all-around perennial book. The pictures are drop-dead gorgeous and alternative colors and specific named varieties are also given.

My advice - buy this book now and you can still get these plants in before spring really gets rolling.